Solar costs to fall further, powering global demand


Florence Tan reports for Reuters:

SINGAPORE, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Solar power costs will fall by another 60 percent over the next decade giving an already booming market another boost, the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) said on Monday.

Solar power is in the midst of boom because of sharp drops in costs and efficiency improvements, pushing global capacity from virtually zero at the start of the century to 300 gigawatt (GW) by the end of 2016, a figure expected to rise again by 2020.

Irena expects 80 to 90 GW of new solar capacity, enough to power more than 8 billion LED light bulbs, to be added globally each year over the next 5 to 6 years, Adnan Amin, the director general of Irena told Reuters, exceeding a forecast of 73 GW from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

“This could easily accelerate as costs decline in the future,” said Amin. “China alone can do 50 GW a year.”

“In the next decade, the cost of (utility scale) solar could fall by 60 percent or more,” he said in Singapore on Monday.

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Elcon chemical waste-burning plant’s third try at the plate

A graphic rendering of the proposed Elcon chemical waste treatment facility in Falls Twp., Bucks County, Pa.


Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Bucks County Courier Times:

A controversial plan to build a hazardous waste treatment facility in Falls has been resubmitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, about five months after the agency partially rejected an earlier version.
The plant, proposed by Elcon Recycling Services LLC, would treat between 150,000 and 210,000 tons of chemical and pharmaceutical wastewater each year, according to the company’s past proposal materials. The materials would be brought by truck to the 70,000-square-foot plant, proposed for a 23-acre property in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex.
Elcon says the plant would use a technologically advanced thermal oxidation process that would limit toxic releases from the facility. Opponents are skeptical, calling the facility an incinerator and raising concerns over air pollution. In addition, they worry the plant could become inundated by floodwaters due to its proximity to the Delaware River.
Elcon’s regulatory road has been a bumpy one. It’s Phase I application, which deals with the site selection, was rejected in early 2015 because the DEP said it didn’t contain enough information about flood risk. Elcon reworked the application, and passed the Phase I hurdle on a second try in November 2015.
However, the company’s Phase II application — a much more rigorous regulatory process that addresses numerous aspects of the proposal — was rejected by the DEP in May 2017 after Elcon submitted it in March. The DEP said in a news release Monday that the company has now submitted additional materials meant to rectify the deficiencies DEP cited in May.
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Three EPA scientist won’t discuss climate change in R.I.

Lisa Friedman reports for The New York Times:


The Environmental Protection Agency has canceled the speaking appearance of three agency scientists who were scheduled to discuss climate change at a conference Monday in Rhode Island, according to the agency and several people involved.

John Konkus, a spokesman and former Trump campaign operative in Florida, confirmed that EPA scientists would not speak at the State of the Narragansett Bay and Watershed program in Providence. He provided no further explanation.

Scientists involved in the program said that much of the discussion at the event centers on climate change.
Many said they were surprised by the cancellation, particularly since the EPA helps to fund the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, which is hosting the conference. The scientists who have been barred from speaking contributed substantial material to a 400-page report to be issued Monday.
The move highlights widespread concern that the EPA will silence government scientists from speaking publicly or conducting work on climate change. Scott Pruitt, the agency’s administrator, has said he does not believe human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are primarily responsible for the warming of the planet.
“It’s definitely a blatant example of the scientific censorship we all suspected was going to start being enforced at EPA,” said John King, a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who chairs the science advisory committee of the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program.
“They don’t believe in climate change, so I think what they’re trying to do is stifle discussions of the impacts of climate change,” King said.


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Energy Department Announces $15M for Fast-Charging


Today, the Energy Department announced up to $15 million for research projects on batteries and vehicle electrification technologies to enable extreme fast charging.

The Department’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) funds early-stage, high-risk research to generate knowledge upon which industry can develop and deploy innovative transportation energy technologies that improve efficiency, lower costs, and increase use of secure, domestic energy sources.


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Birds-eye tech a great tool for Meadowlands researchers




A drone used by the Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute eliminates the inconsistencies that previous research instruments struggled with and gathers information on native
 and invasive flora in a fraction of the time formerly required.


Michael Hill has the story for NJTV News


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Well-funded Manhattan group out to block 58th St. tower








Sally Goldenberg reports for Politico:

Most developers proposing substantial new construction in New York City can expect a fair amount of opposition from residents trying to fend off changes to their neighborhoods.

Rarely is that opposition so organized and well-funded that it succeeds in upending the plans of a developer who isn’t even seeking city approval for a land use change.

But that is what’s happening in a residential neighborhood in Midtown. A community organization known as the East River Fifties Alliance is on the verge of blocking an 800-foot-tall tower planned for East 58th Street in Manhattan.

While many of the city’s zoning fights pit disjointed community groups against well-funded developers, this fight is better matched. The city’s powerful real estate lobby supports the project, while the alliance — a group of wealthy and motivated East Side residents — want it stopped.

The alliance’s application, which has the backing of the area’s politicians, drew dozens of supporters and foes to a packed public hearing of the City Planning Commission Wednesday.

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